Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott is under fire tonight for an email sent to the Liberal Party’s email subscribers.

The email sets out Abbott’s arguments against the flood levy. It attacks the Prime Minister as “out of her depth”, and describes the levy as “the Gillard Government’s latest raid on people’s wallets. It calls for the deferral of the National Broadband Network and urges budget savings as a substitute for the flood levy.

The email concludes with: “PS. Click to donate to help our campaign against Labor’s flood tax.” Clicking the link takes the reader to the online donations page of the Liberal Party’s website.

The levy was was announced last week by Julia Gillard. It is designed to contribute $1.8 billion towards flood reconstruction. For every dollar it raised, the government is cutting budget spending by two dollars.

The independent Nationals MP Tony Crook will support the flood levy legislation in the House of Representatives, in a blow to Tony Abbott’s attempts to block the tax.

Crook is the member for O’Connor, the Western Australian electorate he won from the Liberal Party’s Wilson Tuckey at last year’s election. Whilst broadly supportive of the coalition, Crook has voted with the government on a number of pieces of legislation and procedural motions.

FEDERAL Member for O’Connor Tony Crook today announced he would support the proposed Commonwealth Flood Response Package, due to be introduced when Parliament resumes next week.

Mr Crook this morning held discussions with Prime Minister Julia Gillard regarding the detail of the funding package.

“After careful consideration of the facts that I have been provided to date in relation to the implementation of the levy, infrastructure deferrals and program cuts, I am satisfied that the Government’s responses (sic) is adequate and responsible,” Mr Crook said.

“My support is conditional upon me reviewing the draft legislation, which is expected to be introduced into the Parliament late next week, and is consistent with the advice currently provided to me.”

Mr Crook sought assurances that residents of the Gascoyne would be able to seek exemptions from the levy if they were affected by the floods, which the Prime Minister provided today.

“Furthermore, the Prime Minister also confirmed to me today that there are no plans for Commonwealth funded WA infrastructure projects to be cut or delayed as a result of the flood package,” he said.

“This directly recognises the importance of these infrastructure projects in supporting WA’s critical role in the National economy.”

Mr Crook also said that any discussions regarding a new and stand alone Natural Disaster Relief Fund should be considered separately.

“Such a natural disaster fund would provide Governments at both State and Federal level with the ability to better prepare for and recover from significant events,” he said.

“However, right now we have a catastrophic event that we need to deal with and we have a responsibility to do this in a timely manner.”

“I appreciate the many Australians that have contacted me to express a view on the flood levy, I am convinced that a response which shares the responsibility between Government and the taxpayer to an event that is shaping up to be our most significant natural disaster in economic terms, is appropriate.”

Mr Crook said he hoped that if the shoe was on the other foot that his fellow Eastern States colleagues would be supporting Western Australia and O’Connor to deal with whatever disaster that may arise.

This summer, we’ve been shocked by the flood disasters that have hit Queensland, Victoria and parts of New South Wales and Western Australia but thrilled by the upwelling of generosity from family, friends, neighbours and tens of thousands of unknown benefactors towards their fellow Australians in trouble.

In dozens of evacuation, recovery or disaster control centres from Grantham and Murphy’s Creek, to Emerald, to Rochester, to Echuca, to Grafton or the Brisbane showgrounds, thousands of people, mostly volunteers, have been striving around the clock to help Australians whose homes or businesses have been in peril. In places such as Toowoomba, Bundaberg, Dalby, Horsham and Dadswell’s Bridge, home of the Big Koala, people devastated by the loss of homes and businesses have been buoyed by the support they’ve had from good Samaritans who turned up when they were needed most. [Read more…]

This is the text of a speech delivered by the Treasurer, Wayne Swan, to the CEO Institute, in Brisbane.

Listen to Wayne Swan’s speech. (25m)

The Impact of the Floods on our Patchwork Economy

Thanks very much for having me and for that kind introduction.

I’d like to thank everyone for being here today, at such a challenging time for our state in particular, for other flood-affected communities in Victoria and elsewhere, and for the national economy more broadly. I’m sure all of you have many competing demands on your time, whether you’ve been personally affected by the floods or involved in the huge rescue and cleanup operation, or whether you’re looking after staff, or whether you’re just trying to get your business back on its feet.

Like me, you would have been inspired by the sheer depth of the community spirit we’ve seen in Queensland in recent weeks. Given the scale of the floods, we’re going to need every ounce of that community and corporate spirit, as we turn our attention to the economic costs and the economic recovery. [Read more…]